Had a bit of a flashback with this one. The Cuffs are a South Jersey punk trio, but looking at the photos of the three shouting skinheads on the CD and listening to the music, one is transported to another place: England 1981. "Enemy" is
Stiff Little Fingers' opening riff of "Suspect Device" via
the Sex Pistols, but everything else brought back fond memories of the cream of the Oi! crop (as opposed to the hundreds of Oi! imitators who ruined it):
the Partisans, Straps, the Business,
Chron Gen,
Peter & the Test Tube Babies, Four Skins, and especially Anti-Pasti. The skank bridge of "John L. Sullivan (Bare Knuckle Fighter)," a tribute to the turn of the century brave brawler, sounds particularly like the post-Clash fist-in-the-air riffage and roar of Anti-Pasti's "No Government" and "Caution in the Wind," or
Chron Gen's "Outlaw." They are also a natural choice for appearing on the Expoited tribute LP and opening for some
Rancid tour dates. The 17 songs on
Bottoms Up further have hints of
Cockney Rejects,
Angelic Upstarts, Insane, and U.S. outfits such as Crucifix and U.S. Chaos, who, if memory serves, were also from New Jersey! As they used to say, Oi! Oi! Oi! ~ Jack Rabid